Copyright in the electronic version of General Order #293/95 belongs exclusively to the Province of British Columbia. This electronic version is for private study or research purposes only.

RESCINDED

General Order #293/95

Oil and Gas Exploration, Well Sites, and Pipelines in the Peace River and Northern Rockies Regional Districts

WHEREAS Section 45 (1) of the Agricultural Land Reserve Act states that this Act and regulations are not subject to any other enactment, whenever enacted, except the Interpretation Act, the Environment and Land Use Act, the Waste Management Act and as provided in this Act or regulations;

AND WHEREAS Section 17 (3) of the Agricultural Land Reserve Act prohibits the use of agricultural land in any Agricultural Land Reserve for any purpose other than farm use, except as permitted by the Act, the regulations or an order of the Commission, on terms the Commission may impose;

AND WHEREAS  Section 34 of the Agricultural Land Reserve Procedure Regulation states that all Special Cases require approval from the Commission;

AND WHEREAS  Section 34 (2) (e) of the Agricultural Land Reserve Procedure Regulation describes the dedication or construction of new highway, road or railway rights of way as Special Cases;

AND WHEREAS  Section 34 (2) (f) of the Agricultural Land Reserve Procedure Regulation describes pipeline pumping stations, underground pipelines and any ancillary purpose as Special Cases;

AND WHEREAS  Section 34 (2) (j) of the Agricultural Land Reserve Procedure Regulation describes well drillings and access to well sites as Special Cases;

AND WHEREAS  Section 34 (2) (m) of the Agricultural Land Reserve Procedure Regulation describes surveying, exploring or prospecting for gravel, oil or minerals, provided all cuts, trenches and similar alterations will be restored to the natural ground level and all topsoil replaced, as Special Cases;

AND WHEREAS  it is the objective of the Land Reserve Commission to preserve agricultural land and to encourage the establishment and maintenance of farms;

AND WHEREAS  the Land Reserve Commission views some oil and gas developments in the Agricultural Land Reserve as temporary activities as long as the land is restored to its original or better condition, and the disruption to farm operations is minimal and acceptable to the landowner;

NOW THEREFORE I hereby certify that the Land Reserve Commission by Resolution #293/95 passed an Order of General Application pursuant to Section 17 of the Agricultural Land Reserve Act to apply to all lands within the Agricultural Land Reserve in the Peace River Regional District and Northern Rockies Regional District, to allow for the use of land without making an application to the Commission

FOR,

1. geophysical exploration for oil and gas, and

2. drilling an oil or gas well on an existing surface lease if the site has already been disturbed, and

3. drilling an oil or gas well, or installing a pipeline less than 5 kilometers in length, where new soil information indicates, in the opinion of the Commission, these works would be located on muskeg soils,

PROVIDED THAT when the land is no longer required, the land disturbed by this use is restored to its original or better topographic and soil condition prior to its disturbance by oil and gas developments before a Certificate of Restoration pursuant to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act is issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mines,

AND FOR,

4. constructing an oil or gas well, access roads, a pipeline less than 5 kilometers in length, and ancillary pumping facilities ("the development") on a new surface lease

PROVIDED THAT,

(a)   the owner of the land has consented to the development in writing, and

(b)   the Regional Director, Central-Peace Region of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has no objection to the development as outlined in a referral of an application for a well site or pipeline, and

(c)   no more than 2 wells will exist per quarter section and the combined area of the surface leases used for wells and access roads is less than 5 hectares, once the proposed development is constructed, and

(d)   the development is located on a land parcel equal to or greater than 60 hectares, and

(e)   if requested by the owner of the land in writing, a reclamation specialist, who has a minimum of 2 years of related training and has experience in land restoration, is hired by the owner of the development to provide advice on the site assessment, construction of the development, and reclamation of the land, and

(f)   the owner of the development files the following reports, which must be developed in consultation with the owner of the land, with the Land Reserve Commission and the owner of the land prior to constructing the development;

1. a site assessment of the surface lease which is completed in accordance with Schedule A, and
2. a report which provides evidence that the development complies with paragraphs 4 (a) to 4 (e), and which includes a copy of the executed surface lease and related survey plan, and
3. a reclamation plan outlining what actions will be taken to ensure that the standards outlined in Schedule B, or other standards allowed by the Commission, will be met before the surface lease is extinguished, and

(g)   the owner of the development ensures that the surface lease is restored to the standards outlined in Schedule B, or other standards allowed by the Commission, and files a report with the Land Reserve Commission and the owner of the land prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Restoration by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, or within 18 months of installing a pipeline, which provides evidence that these standards have been met.

Failure to comply with paragraphs 4 (a) to 4 (g) for works described in paragraph 4, may result in the Land Reserve Commission taking further action pursuant to Section 51 and Section 52 of the Agricultural Land Reserve Act.

This General Order in no way relieves the owner of the oil and gas development of the responsibility of adhering to all other legislation which may apply to the land.  This includes zoning, subdivision, or other land use bylaws and decisions of any authorities which have jurisdiction.

Dated at Burnaby, British Columbia on the 10^th day of April, 1995.

 
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